1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus and more particularly to improvements in such apparatus having a tape loading mechanism, a reel table brake mechanism and fast forward/rewind mode switching means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a prior art magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a tape loading mechanism, a reel table brake mechanism and further a pinch roller pressing mechanism, one motor (loading motor) is used to drive the tape loading mechanism, and solenoids or plungers and so on are separately used to control the reel table brake mechanism and the pinch roller pressing mechanism, with the solenoids or plungers being controlled in accordance with the changeover of the operation modes of the magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Accordingly, it is difficult to establish the necessary timing of the operations of the brake and pinch roller and also an electric circuit for controlling them becomes complicated. Further, the number of solenoids or plungers is increased and so the manufacturing cost of the magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus is also increased.
A prior art magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus of this kind provided with a so-called M-type loading mechanism, is known to have two loading rings which are rotated around a rotary head drum in the positive and reverse directions and, these rings and the tape guide post member are coupled with one another by a spring. As the rings are rotated, the tape guide post member is moved along a guide groove of substantially inverted V-shape extending toward to the rotary head drum from the side thereof facing the reel tables. Alternatively, the loading mechanism may include a so-called loading arm system in which a pair of left and right loading arms are each formed by pivotally coupling first and second half portions thereof, the guideposts are attached to the first half portions of the arm and the second half portions of the arms are coupled to respective limiter gears, and in which the gears coupled with the both arms are directly engaged with each other and one of the limiter gears is rotated to thereby allow both arms to move the tape guide post members along the guide grooves similarly to the above.
However, the mechanism of the loading ring type has to provide two rings around the rotary head drum while the loading arm system has to include limiter gears which are large in diameter because both limiter gears to which the rear ends of both loading arms are coupled are directly coupled with each other. Accordingly, both types of loading mechanisms are limited in the positions where they may be situated and the loading mechanisms thereof require considerably large spaces, so the prior art loading ring type and loading arm type are disadvantageous for a magnetic recording and/or reproduing apparatus of small size.
Further, in the prior art magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus, since the brake mechanisms for the supply reel table and take-up reel table are operated simultaneously and they are controlled through the link mechanism, the arrangement thereof becomes complicated and large in size. Thus, the brake mechanism thereof requires a large space and prevents the overall arrangement from being made small in size. Moreover, since the brake mechanisms are arranged to engage or disengage both reel tables simultaneously both in the loading and normal speed transporting modes, both brake mechanisms disengage both reel tables and hence the reel tables are completely free to rotate. Thus, the tape is easily slackened during loading and the degree of tape contact with the head drum becomes weak so that there is the danger that the tracing by the magnetic head upon the tape will become unstable.
Furthermore, in the prior art, a known high speed drive mechanism for the reel tables of the magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus of this kind is of the so-called reel motor type in which a high speed transport gear is movable between the supply reel table and the take-up reel table and is driven in different rotation directions by a reel motor to thereby transport the tape in the fast forward mode and the rewind mode. Another known high speed drive mechanism is a so-called capstan positive and negative direction rotation type in which an idler is provided between a rotation member rotated by the drive force of the capstan and both reel tables, and rotation of the capstan in the positive direction and negative direction causes both reel tables to be rotated through the idler at high speed. Still another known high speed drive mechanism is of a so-called mechanical type in which a rotation member rotated by the drive force of the capstan is supported on a swingable link member and this rotation member transmits the rotation force directly to one reel table and through a rotary transfer member to the other reel table to thereby transport the reel tables in the fast forward mode or rewind mode, respectively.
However, the reel motor type requires the reel motor in addition to the capstan drive motor so that the manufacturing cost thereof is increased and is further disadvantageous from a power consumption standpoint.
Further, the known high speed drive mechanisms of the capstan positive and negative rotation type has a complicated electric circuit arrangement for rotating the capstan in the positive and negative directions and this increases the manufacturing cost. Furthermore, the high speed drive mechanisms of the mechanical type is disadvantageous in that the operation thereof will easily become unstable since the rotation member is swingably supported.